You are a first time mommy! Congrats! How has your routine including your hair routine changed?

My routine as a first time mommy has changed and sadly, not for the better. Before returning to work full-time, I used to deep condition my hair on a weekly basis. I also used to wear the curls out all the time. Since becoming a mom, I’ve found that time is a precious and rare commodity when it comes to beauty/hair care. I no longer have the time to dedicate to the deep conditioning process every week so it’s now become a twice monthly or sometimes once monthly affair. It’s unfortunate because I did suffer hair loss following the birth of my daughter so I desperately need to dedicate more time to the deep conditioning process. To make up for it, I always use leave-in conditioner as a base and finish with Moroccan or argan oil when I style my hair. I hope that in doing so, I’m conditioning/moisturizing my hair to some degree.

I also find that, for the time being, I can no longer wear my hair curly all the time. My daughter is in the stage where she wants to touch/play with everything in sight. My hair is not exempt so she is constantly touching, pulling and playing with my hair. You can probably relate, but constant touching of the curls makes mine frizzy/messy looking. I used to be able to last 5 days with my curls out. Now I’m lucky if I make it to three before I start looking like I got electrocuted - not cute. And I’m not kidding. So I end up pulling the curls back in a bun or trying some other creative way to wear it. Most of the time, because of having little time, the pulled back look wins.

Another change is in how often I color and cut my hair. I used to do this pretty regularly before Addison but I can’t seem to bring myself to dedicate the hours that it takes to visit the salon and get those simple services done. Ok, no time to deep condition, style or cut/color hair are really making me sound like a winner here – I need a clone!

What really made you go natural?

The decision to go natural for me was gradual and somewhat organic. One of my closest friends went natural shortly after we graduated from college (she caved after a year and later tried again and succeeded at remaining natural). At around the same time, my cousin cut off all of her hair in her quest to go natural. I thought they were both rock stars for doing it, but my cousin more so for having the guts to literally cut everything off (think Jada Pinkett’s Low Down Dirty Shame boy short look without the ridiculously long/curled sideburns) . I was very inspired – but still hesitant. Aside from being hugely inspired by both of them, my active lifestyle was the deciding factor and lead to my decision to go natural. Back then, I used to run half marathons, constantly in the gym, and taking tennis lessons. I couldn’t sustain the work required to keep my hair ‘straight’ while spending so much time on physical activities. I stopped going to the salon, which also meant that I stopped relaxing my hair. I’d go and get a trim but I wouldn’t allow the stylists to process my hair although they desperately wanted to take care of my ‘intense roots’ situation. A year and a half or so later, I had a full head of natural hair and found it incredibly liberating. I couldn’t believe how much time I’d spent going to the salon every weekend --- and sitting there for 3-4 hours (no disrespect to anyone who currently does this). Without the beautiful ladies that go to the salon every weekend, our stylists in the ‘hood would run out of business'. For me however, it made a huge difference in using the extra time to do much more meaningful things with my weekends.

I will admit that I still feel that there are occasions for which I need to bring out the straight hair both in my personal and professional life. I work for a Financial Services Firm and depending upon whom I’m meeting with, I sometimes feel that my ‘big hair’ may be too wild for work so I pull it back. I also still give into blow drying my hair if I’m going to a wedding or any other formal event. It’s something that I’m continuing to work through because my hair, in its natural state is beautiful (except on those days when I look like I got electrocuted or when I’m rocking that hat/bed hair that my daughter has so very well perfected).